Crash and burn
by AlexRoseRusso
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy. Post LS, Dimitri and Rose are going strong. When Dimitri's family comes to visit and stay with them, however, it turns into a huge fight that neither of them knows how to handle. Will they get the chance to work it out? Or will it all go down in flames when Rose and Lissa gets in another car crash on their way home from a shopping trip?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this isn't exactly a new story. I have had this lying around for a couple of years now and decided to post it. I do intend to finish Long live the queen soon, the chapter is written, I just need to do some final changes. Hope you like this one.**

Rose's point of view:

It hadn't exactly been a perfect morning. In fact: It had been rather crappy. Dimitri had been angry from the moment he woke up - no reason given. Of course, I did have a pretty good clue on why he was pissed... The rest of my family in law - who was currently living in our house - had been unusually irritating, not to mention the non-stop screaming baby, who was growing teeth. It wasn't the baby's fault, I knew that, but when you didn't have kids yourself, dealing with them was rather annoying. I ended up skipping out the door twenty minutes early just to get out of there. I loved the Belikovs, I really did, but they had been camping out in our apartment for two weeks now, and it was getting on my nerves. Dimitri, of course, couldn't see the problem in non-existent privacy and had become rather irritated with me, ever since I suggested finding them a place in the guest housing a few days ago. You know, like they should have done, to begin with! And so, it was that I was now twenty minutes early to work, hungry from not having breakfast, and pissed off that my boyfriend had deliberately turned the other way when I tried kissing him goodbye this morning. It was a thing we did because in our line of work we didn't know if we would make it home, so we kissed goodbye every morning and confessed our love for each other, even if it was just and 'I love ya'. This morning there was no goodbye and no 'I love you'. I knew it was a bit silly, I knew he still loved me, that this was just the stress of his family being around and the anger from the fight we had the other day, but it still hurt that he wouldn't even kiss me goodbye.

"You're early?" Lissa asked confused when opening the door as if I would suddenly remember the time and decide to go back home and come back later instead.

"In-laws," was my only explanation, as I skipped past her into the kitchen. Christian was making breakfeast, so I picked some bacon of the pan he was holding on the stove.

"Should I make more?" He asked, or rather suggested with a scowl while looking at me offended. I just nodded, not granting him a real answer.

Lissa came in smiling ever the morning person that I wasn't. "I will tell you what: We'll have a girls' day. No in-laws hanging around, just you and me and the mall."

I felt a smile creep into my face. "The mall is a three hours drive away," I pointed out, not opposed to the idea. She just laughed and nodded. Three hours meant no one would come to bother us, and we wouldn't be back before tonight - late. Possibly, I would even have to do overtime, and that meant I could avoid having to face Dimitri.

"Sounds great," I told her before stuffing my mouth with more bacon.

* * *

Dimitri's point of view:

We were fighting again. I hated fighting with her. It felt like it was all we did back at the academy, and I didn't want our relationship to be filled with it, but she seriously suggested finding another place for my family to stay! Like she didn't know that family was everything to me. She probably didn't mean It, but it felt like she was distancing herself from them, that she didn't want to be a part of it, and I really couldn't handle that. While I understood her views on family and interaction were slightly different, I also felt like she should understand having your family stay somewhere else, while they were visiting from Russia, was rude. Yet I didn't want to fight with her either, so instead of bringing up the issue again, I decided on the silent treatment. This morning she didn't even seem to understand that we had a problem, trying to kiss me goodbye as usual before leaving, and so I came to doubt if her most recent error was one she had actually committed, or simply something I had dreamt. I couldn't tell anymore, not with the little sleep I got with a crying baby in the house. I sighed and looked down in my coffee cup. I had to go to work in a few minutes. Normally, Roza and I would go to work together, as our charges lived with one another, but she skipped off twenty minutes ago, barely trying to make it seem like she wasn't just trying to get away, further fueling my irritation.

"We thought about making a small trip to go see something other than court for the day," my mother told me, as she took my empty plate.

"Sounds like a good plan," I answered, starting to collect my things. I kissed her on the cheek before leaving. "Love you all, have a nice day," I called, and heard them answer with a collective 'you too' before I closed the door. I was preparing myself on how to ignore Rose for the day when I reached Christian's house but was surprised to find that she and Lissa were already gone.

"They went out," Christian offered as an explanation when he noticed my flickering gaze, then he smirked, "boy, you really pissed her off this time. She was like twenty minutes early! Early! Rose!" He laughed with a wide-eyed expression. I tried to ignore him as I grabbed another cup of coffee and wondered how long it would take me to earn forgiveness from her after my family left. We hadn't been together since they arrived and by the looks of it, it would take a few weeks for her to forget this again. Great.

* * *

Rose's point of view

"I really think we got some great stuff!" Lissa exclaimed as we walked to the car.

I snickered and held up all my bags. "Well, you bought half the mall. I'd say something in here should work," I teased. She had outdone herself this time, but it had been forever since we shopped, so I guess it was fair. Also, we had spent about ten hours at the mall, meaning I would be so late home tonight everyone would probably already be asleep. Maybe even Vika's baby.

She glared at me mockingly. "You did a pretty good job yourself. Actually, what is up with the fact that the things you got were cute? I thought you were all responsible now," she mocked.

I shrugged lightly. "Well, that was the old me. Rose 202. You are looking at Rose 303, babe," I teased and flipped my hair.

She laughed and I joined in. We did get a lot of good stuff. Tight jeans, short skirts, and cute tops. I was so going to get back at Dimitri for his silent treatment. I hope he likes having blue balls, cause that was going to be a permanent condition.

"Do we have to go home?" I complained as I got behind the wheel.

"I am afraid so," Lissa told me with a pout. "Although, we should do this more often. We don't get enough quality time these days," she pondered sadly.

I sighed as well and turned the key. "We don't," I agreed, "maybe I could spend the night in your guestroom? Don't want to wake up the house when I get in," I reasoned innocently, as I pulled out of the parking lot.

"Trying to avoid the in-laws?" She guessed.

"The baby is driving me crazy!" I exclaimed desperately and took a calming breath.

"Of course, stay as long as you want, hon, but be aware: Dimitri is probably gonna be even more pissed when you do get home," she warned me.

"If he is pissed, he is pissed," I tsked. "Actually, he already is pissed. As long as I get a full night's sleep, I can handle it," I argued.

We were halfway on our way back when the phone rang. I put it on Bluetooth, so I could answer while driving. "Rose Hathaway speaking," I answered, keeping my eyes on the road.

"Roza? You need to come quick, it is Vika - she collapsed!" Olena cried over the speaker.

"Olena, calm down, we are already on our way. What hospital is she at?" I asked, in case it wasn't at court.

I heard her take several deep breaths before she could answer. "Hahnemann University hospital. It is in Philadelphia." We had already passed Philly. I quickly accessed the next driver exit to change the direction. "We are on our way, don't worry, we'll be there soon," I told her and hung up. I cursed slightly under my breath, and Lissa reached over, squeezing my hand on the driver stick to show sympathy. They had been driving me nuts lately, but they were still my family-in-law. I didn't want anything to happen to them.

We were almost there when we got to the last change of light. There weren't a lot of people out at this hour - we were almost the only car. I waited for the green light and then made the turn. Too late, I saw the car coming flying towards us with too much speed. He was going to hit us, I realized, and there wasn't time to get out of the way. I spun the wheel, trying to turn the vehicle, so the impact would be on my side of the car, and saw the flash of the headlights fly over us, then everything turned black.

**What do you think? Chapter 2 is ready, just let me know if you want to read it ;-)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! The first chapter got received so well, I figure I'd put this up before I went to sleep. Just a quick note: Someone pointed out Lissa is actually queen in this timeline. That is absolutely correct, and I feel so stupid for forgetting to write that in! Sorry! Anyways: I already wrote this, so... Please, just pretend she is still only a princess? **

Dpov

I just got off the phone with my mother after having her deliver the distressing news: Viktoria had collapsed and started bleeding. An ambulance had taken her to the nearest hospital, but they didn't know what was wrong yet, or if she would make it. I knew there was a slight chance she might be exaggerating, but it sounded serious. Without even asking what the call was about, Christian offered me his car keys and told me to go. I didn't argue with him, thankful for his help, and grabbed the keys, hurrying to get there as soon as possible. My shift had been over an hour ago, but since my family still wasn't back, I had decided to wait for Roza, hoping to get her in a better mood - that was when I got the call. Getting into Christians SUV and hurrying off, I pressed the speed limit the entire way there, and almost got there in half the time it should have taken me. I didn't slow down when I got into city traffic, there wasn't anyone around anyway. I barely registered that there was a change of light, but not that it was red for me when suddenly there was a car in front of me. I felt the airbag collide with me, as I heard the sound of metal being ripped apart. I was stunned for a few seconds then started checking up. I was able to move, aside from the burn from the airbag, I felt fine. I looked around. The helmet of the car was curled up, but otherwise, my car hadn't taken too much damage. I opened the door and stumbled out, looking for the car I had hit. Not as lucky as I had been, it was completely ruined. The vehicle was almost completely ripped apart, it seemed the driver had tried to avoid me and spun the car so the impact was entirely one side. A girl near it was frantically yelling and crying. I thought she was hurt, so I rushed to her side until I saw that she was kneeling over her friend who was on the ground. I hurried over, hoping to help with the little medical training I had while asking myself silently what the hell I had done. When I got to them, however, my world froze. Lissa looked up at me with tears streaming down her face and a few cuts on her face too. Rose, my Roza, was the one laying on the ground. She was unconscious, blood soaking her hair, and her right arm and leg were in odd angles.

"Oh my god." I kneeled next to her too, ripping off my shirt and using it to try to stop the bleeding from her head.

"What did you do?! What did you do?!" Lissa screamed beside me, matching the screams in my head. Over and over the words kept playing, while the replaying sound of metal tearing mixed with the sound of ambulances getting closer. I tried to stay with her, but the rescuers took her from me and put us in different ambulances.

"Sir? Sir, you need to sit down, so I can stitch your wound," a nurse instructed at the hospital, but I didn't listen. I just wanted to find Roza.

"Is she okay? Can I see her?" The nurse didn't answer, but pushed me back down and started stitching up a wound I hadn't even noticed. "Please, you have to tell me," I begged her.

She looked at me with sad, tired eyes and sighed. "Miss Hathaway is being rushed to surgery right now, sir. I understand your need to make amends, but you will have to wait until she is out in recovery and awake."

I shook my head, the only thing that was currently keeping me there was the needle in my arm. "No, no you don't understand. Rose is my girlfriend. We were on our way here because my sister collapsed – oh god, Vika! Do you know anything about Viktoria Belikov? Can you check up on her?" The nursed sighed as she pulled the last stitch.

"Okay, I have stitched the wound, but you need to keep it from opening by not putting pressure on yourself. You don't seem to have any other injuries, which is a miracle. So, for now, I would advise you to go out in the waiting area and talk to the nice policemen about the accident, and then I'll come by as soon as I know anything," she instructed, leaving no room for discussion.

I did as told, with the promise of information if I did. "Dimka!" My mother exclaimed, as soon as she saw me. My whole family was in the waiting area, aside from Vika.

Before I reached them, a police officer came over and pulled me aside. "Mr. Belikov, we need to ask you a few questions." I nodded, trying to sneak a look at my family. They looked worried, but I couldn't tell if it was for me, Viktoria, or both. Assuming they didn't know about Roza yet, I'd say both. "Mr. Belikov, can you explain what happened to me?"

I looked down, not wanting to see their faces as I explained. "I was on my way here to the hospital - my sister, she collapsed. I drove here, as soon as I heard, and I-, I must have been unfocused. The next thing I know, there is a car in front of me, and then the crash-" I couldn't finish the sentence. The sound of metal being torn apart still replaying in my ears.

The officer nodded in understanding. "Mr. Belikov, have you had any kind of alcohol or drugs this evening?" I shook my head negative. "Alright, we have your blood test, so we'll know if you are lying. Were you speeding?" I nodded, then tried to see if my family were looking. They were. "How fast?" The officer demanded to know.

I tried remembering but realized I couldn't. I didn't know how fast I had gone. "Too fast. I don't remember how much exactly - I was distracted."

The officer nodded and made notes. "Alright – look, a coworker is taking Miss Dragomir's statement right now. Then we'll have to wait for Miss Hathaway to wake up and give us her testimony and … If she survives, and her testimony matched yours, then you are looking at a speeding ticket, some insurance stuff, and probably a lawsuit from Miss Hathaway, but we won't charge you with anything else, of course assuming that she'll survive."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "Is there a chance that she won't?"

He looked at his notes and scratched his neck. "Look, I don't know more than you do. But she is in surgery, and people die in surgery, so – I just want to cover my back." I nodded in understanding and he put a hand on my shoulder before leaving. "Try not to worry too much. And don't leave town - if she dies we'll have to arrest you for involuntary manslaughter."

"Dimka what happened? Why are the police here, and what happened to your arm?" I shook my head, needing to know about Vika before they all looked at me like I was a monster.

"How is Vika?" My mother bit her lip but leaped into it.

"Ectopic pregnancy. They say she is doing well, but she isn't out of surgery yet. Dimka what happened to you?" I looked at them, wanting to remember them before I told them what I did.

"I hit a car on my way here." I heard a collective gasp and my mother started examining me. "I am fine, mom, but the other car-"

She looked up at me alarmed. "No one died?" She asked immediately preparing for the worst.

I shook my head and swallowed. "No, not yet, but… The other car, mama, it was Roza and the princess." Another round of gasps and I finally looked up to see her pained face.

"Oh, Dimka." She hugged me making me feel even worse.

"How are they?" Karolina asked.

I shook my head unsure what to tell them. "The princess seems to be alright, but Roza… She is in surgery, and they don't know if she'll make it." No one said anything. They didn't need to. We were all thinking the same thing. If she died, then I would have been the one to kill her. I would have killed my Roza.

"Dimitri?" Karolina said quietly. I looked at her, and she nodded to something behind me. I turned around to see Lissa approaching me. She had been cleaned up, her left arm was in a sling, and the cuts on her face had been glued instead of stitched. She walked over to us slowly, her face unreadable. When she finally stood in front of me, she just stared at me in silence a few moments, her lower lips trembling slightly, then raised her hand and slapped me. Hard. Surprisingly hard for such a skinny girl.

"She was trying to get away from you! One day! She was having one, happy, carefree day, and you slam into her with a car!" She exclaimed angrily. I winced feeling the guilt tenfold of before.

"Hey! Back off! Like he isn't beating himself up already!" Karolina jumped to my defense.

Lissa made a disgusted face. "He should. Rose is in there because of you, Dimitri. This is YOUR fault, and if she dies, then that is on you too," she spat at me, then stormed off leaving us alone. I knew she shouldn't be alone right now, her guardian was in surgery, and she was hurt, but I didn't have it in me to follow her.

"This isn't your fault," my mother tried to comfort me.

"It is. I was speeding. I drove over for red light, and I hit them. If it wasn't for that, she would be fine right now. She would be here with us, worrying about Vika. Because of me, she is in surgery, and we don't know if she will survive." I took a deep breath trying to calm down. "I need some time alone. Call me when you know anything on Vika." Karolina nodded, and they let me leave. I bolted for the door, needing the fresh air as I suddenly felt suffocated by the walls.

L pov

Footsteps came closer before ending behind me at the entrance to the hospital room.

"She looks so peaceful like that, doesn't she?" I asked still looking at Rose. I knew it was Christian at the door, I could always tell his presence.

"Yeah, hard to believe she is going to wake up and be a total bitch soon."

I smiled a little at that. "She is supposed to be a bitch right now. Why is it taking so long?"

He came over and placed his hands on my shoulders. "The doctor said it might be a while. She had brain surgery, there is no telling how long it'll take."

I sighed, knowing he was right. "I know."

He walked over to the other side and sat down. "How are you feeling?" I shrugged.

"Fine, a little guilty, but fine."

He looked at me weirdly. "Why would you feel guilty?"

I sighed and slumped back. "Because… She spun the wheel, so her side of the car got hit instead of mine," I admitted not looking at him.

"You feel like it should have been you?" he asked, and I heard the disbelief in his tone, but couldn't look at him. "Lissa, Rose dedicated her life to protect you. I am not saying that it is right, but she did. So how I look at it, when she wakes up, she is going to damn proud to have done just that. And hey if you know her right, she is going to love having a new scar to show off." I felt a small smile tug at my lips knowing he was right. How absurd it might be, Rose believed her life to be all about me. She was going to be thrilled about telling this to the other guardians and earning some coolness points.

"Liss?" A hoarse voice suddenly asked, drawing our attention back to the subject of the conversation.

"Rose! How are you feeling?" I asked her, leaning closer. She squinted her eyes at me slowly, then suddenly bolted up from the bed in panic.

"Oh god! Liss, are you okay? What about André? Eric and Rhea, are they alright?"

I felt dread flow over me, as the words that kept leaving her mouth that made no sense. "Rose? Rose, do you know what happened?"

She nodded frantically and looked around the small hospital room for something. "We were in a crash. The road was icy, and your dad lost control of the car-"

I stopped her, not wanting to relive that moment, not even for her. "No Rose, that was years ago. We were in another car-crash – don't you remember?" She looked at me blankly for a few moments, then turned and started to look around frantically again.

"Oh my god, Lissa! What happened? Are you okay?" She asked, scanning me.

"I am fine Rose. Look the doctor will be here in a moment to-"

"Doctor? No, no, I don't need a doctor. Liss, we need to get going, before they figure out who we are." She started trying to get up, and I had to hold her down. I was doing a terrible job as she was much stronger than I was, so Christian came up to help me, taking a hold of her shoulders to push her down. She looked at him blankly for a few moments like she had me, then her entire mode changed. "What is the freak doing here?" She asked with a grimace. "Liss, why is he here?" She demanded to know, and I saw the hurt on Christian's face. "Liss?!" She hissed again, while I looked confused from face to face.

"Call the doctor, Christian. Now!" I ordered while not taking my eyes off Rose and replaced his hands with mine.

While Christian ran to get the doctor, she got frantic again. "No, no, no doctor. I need to- I need to find-" she cut herself off and grabbed my arm tightly.

"Liss, oh god! Andre, your parents, are they okay?" She asked frantically again with the most heartbreaking expression. The doctors and nurses finally arrived and ordered me out. After a half-hour, a couple of doctors finally came out to update us.

"Miss Dragomir?" I nodded and hugged myself, while Christian put his arm around me.

"It appears Miss Hathaway's memory has suffered some damage. Whatever from the accident or the surgery is hard to tell."

I let out a sob, knowing what that meant. "You mean she doesn't remember?"

The doctor shook his head. "She remembers, but – her memory seems to jump. One minute she remembers everything, the next she is fifteen, then fourteen, then seventeen. There is no consistency."

"Can you fix it?" Christian asked, and the doctor looked worried.

"Normally in cases like these, she'll come around in a few hours," he tried to soothe us with.

"And if she doesn't?"

The doctor shook his head. "There will be some kind of development. She won't keep jumping around in memories like this, but- what we are worried about is, where her brain chooses to stabilize. For all, we know in a few hours Miss Hathaway may regain her full memory."

"Or she chooses to be fourteen forever?" Christian asked skeptically, and the doctor nodded hesitantly.

"That is a possibility."

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. "And if that happens?" I asked, not able to comprehend the possible consequences of that.

The doctor looked doubtful. "Hopefully, if that is the case, she will regain memory over time. But there is no way to tell when that might be."

I nodded and thanked him before we went in again. The nurse explained, they had given her a sedative while her brain adjusted. I sighed and slumped back into the chair. "What do we do if she doesn't come around, Chris?"

He took my hand in comfort. "Then we'll make new memories. We'll figure it out, Liss, I promise." I sighed and looked at Rose. What if she never remembered? I knew she would remember me – we had known each other forever, but what about everyone else?

**Please remember to review! Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

D-pov

"Have you gone to see her yet?" My little sister asked while making her next scrapple move. I shook my head and pretended to be considering my next move. "You should," she stated, forcing me to look at her briefly.

"I can't, not yet."

She gave me a ridiculed look. "Of course you can. She got out of surgery yesterday - she is probably asking for you by now," she tried to tempt me.

"Princess Dragomir would have told me if she was," I simply stated.

"No offense, but Karo told me about her stunt yesterday. I don't think she would," Vika argued, and I knew she was right. Lissa would rather put herself on fire than update me about Rose.

I shrugged and looked back at the game, then she slapped my arm. "For god's sake! Go! Stop sulking around in my room and go see to your girlfriend!" She exclaimed and made an angry gesture towards the door.

I sighed and gathered my duster, knowing there was no arguing with her when she was like this. I didn't go straight to see Roza, tho. Instead, I wandered around a bit, trying to gather up the courage. It took me about an hour before I finally made my way to her room. As I wandered down the hallway towards the room the nurse had directed me in, Christian came the other way, having just left her room. "How is she?" I asked when we were standing next to each other.

He shook his head negative, then pulled me aside. "Look, Dimitri, before you go in: There is something, you should know." I frowned but listened. Feeling my stomach drop, as he explained the extent of the situation, I suddenly felt a new level of nauseous.

"She doesn't remember anything?"

He shook his head. "She remembers some - from time to time. Her memory still jumps, but the doctor says it is stabilizing."

"Where? I mean, what age does she-?" he shook his head again.

"Hard to tell, but she still refers to me as 'the freak', so I'd say somewhere before the Viktor incident." I swallowed. That meant she didn't remember our relationship if she remembered me at all. I took a moment after Christian left to prepare myself before entering. Rose was sitting up straight in her bed, seeming so small in all those white sheets. She was looking through the window, but her eyes flickered to me, as I entered.

"Oh crap," she muttered and her eyes scouted the room, for what I could only imagine...

"Roza…" I tried to find the words, but I couldn't. I didn't even know what to say that would make sense to her right now.

"Where is Lissa?!" She demanded to know, quickly getting irritated when I didn't answer right away. "Princess Vasilisa! Where is she? What did you do to her?" she asked, getting more furious and desperate as each moment passed by.

"The princess is fine - she is just resting," I told her carefully, trying to figure out where Rose was in her mind. She seemed to relax a little, but she still glared at me.

"You are going to take us back, aren't you?!" I stared at her for a moment, then I understood: She was remembering something from before we meet.

"You don't need to be afraid. We know why you ran: We know about the princess' powers, and we found the threat and eliminated it," I told her calmly, stepping closer slowly to see how close she'd let me. Her glare softened.

"You did?" she asked, her tense position starting to soften. I nodded.

"Yes, it was Viktor Dashkov. You know that - you were there," I tried to keep my voice soft and calm, even if my world seemed to be crashing down.

Her gaze shifted, her entire expression seemed to change, then she panicked again. "Dimitri! Oh god, the others- how are the others!?" she asked, reaching out to grab my arm, her eyes pleading me for answers. But I didn't know who she was referring to, and I didn't know what to tell her to make it better.

"Roza, what others?" I asked softly and reached out to caress her cheek.

"Eddie, Mia, Christian, and Mason! Are they okay? How did you find us?!" She asked still fearful and panicked. I realized she was referring to Spokane, and I really didn't know what to tell her this time.

"Roza… You did everything you could. You were so brave." I whispered to her, pulling her closer. She starred at me again, and I saw how her mind wandered off again. I was holding my breath, waiting for her to say something that could hint me to where she was now.

"Oh man! I screwed up on my first day, didn't I?" she moaned, looking remorseful but she didn't push me away. I guessed this was after she sprained her ankle on the bench.

"No, you didn't, no one could have foreseen that bench would be rotten," I told her, and she smiled a little.

"You would have. You're a god." She blushed as if she hadn't meant to call me that.

"Sorry, I didn't-" I cut her off by playing with one of her locks that stuck out of the bandage. She blushed even more.

"Dimitri I…" she got that far-off look again that made me fear where she was going this time. She looked around and frowned.

"Why am I in the hospital? Comrade, what are we doing here?" She looked so young and confused, all I wanted was to wrap her up and take her home. To keep her from any harm, but it was already too late for that.

"What is the last thing you remember?" I asked her. She furrowed her brows, then a smile spread across her face.

"I remember your terrible taste in music, and that ridicules little Honda," she teased, and I felt relief that at least this was a happy memory.

"Right, the day of your test. You don't remember anything after?" She cut me off with a light giggle.

"What else is there to remember? I fell asleep, you kept us safe. That is what you do," she giggly told me and added to my guilty conscious.

"Roza, oh Roza." I hugged her to me and felt her body tense, knowing the moment was gone, and I had to start over again. It went on like that, she jumped in and out of memories, and every time I got a bit closer to her, she was lost again. Sometimes she would smile and call me Comrade. Sometimes she would avoid eye-contact, or bring up fights from her academy days. Other times she didn't even recognize me at all. Eventually, I was able to hold her in one of her memories for long enough to get her to go to sleep. I kept watching her for a while, until it all got too much and I bolted from the room. I needed air, needed quiet and space.

"Dimka?" I didn't even realize I had found my way out to the front of the hospital. Karo was sitting on a bench, watching the kids as they played. Spotting me, she rushed over. "Oh, Dimka," she whispered to me and pulled me over to the bench. "You went to see her." It was a statement, not a question. I nodded, finally gaining some control of my emotions. "How is she?" She asked softly, obviously not knowing what to expect. I shook my head.

"She… Her arm and leg are broken. She has 78 stitches combined and a crushed kneecap."

Karo nodded slowly. "So hurt, stitched up and probably pissed?" She tried to sneak in a joke. If only that was it.

I shook my head and felt a lump forming in my throat. "She hit her head… they had to operate and... And her memory seems to be failing."

Karolina frowned, her expression grew grievous. "Failing?" She asked nervously sensing where I was headed, and I simply nodded, not knowing how else to explain it. "Does she remember anything?" Karolina tried nervously.

I nodded and swallowed. "She remembers some things, but her memory keeps jumping. One moment she knows me, the next she doesn't."

Karo seemed a little relieved, while I didn't know why. "When are the most recent memories from?"

I tried to organize the memories she had gone through today on a timeline. "Some time at the academy, before our lives went to hell," I admitted.

She nodded thoughtfully. "Then at least there is something to work with. Maybe, if you push a little, she'll-"

I cut her off. "I am not pushing anything. I've done enough."

She sighed deeply. "It wasn't your fault!" She exclaimed - the same thing she had said since I first told them.

I jumped up, feeling anger boil up. "Yes, it was! It damn well was, and I can't stand everyone telling me it wasn't. I was speeding. I wasn't concentrating on the road. I drove through a red light, and now my girlfriend is in the hospital because of it!"

Karo flinched a little, but her stern gaze met mine unwavering. "We are just trying to protect you," she snapped at me.

I took a deep breath to calm down. "Obviously, I am not the one you need to protect," I pointed out bitterly.

Her gaze softened slightly. "Oh Dimka…" she sighed, lost for words, and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I left.

Lpov

I looked up at Christian as he approached. I had arranged a room at a hotel across the street so that we could stay nearby all the times, in case Rose needed us, or there was any development. This had resulted in the hospital's waiting room becoming a more or less permanent office space for us, to get the minimum work done when we couldn't be with Rose, for whatever reason.

"So?" He didn't say anything for a moment, but he didn't look sad, so I took that as a good sign. Finally, he spoke up.

"They'll come to talk to us soon. Janine and Abe are on their way, and we will have to wait for them."

I sighed and closed my laptop. "Seriously? They haven't been here all along, rarely talks to her ever, and yet we have to wait for them?" It just wasn't fair that they got so many rights just from DNA, when we were her actual family.

He gave me a crooked smile.

"They are her parents. Besides, since she is the only one with parents around here - we don't really have a say in how their relationship should work," he pointed out gently. I couldn't keep in a choked giggle trying to escape. As weird as it was, given how it had started in first grade, Rose was, in fact, the only person in our group with two parents, whom she was in contact with regularly. Aside from Adrian, who didn't count, seeing as he wasn't very much in contact with us since moving away and getting together with Sidney.

"So, we are just going to wait?"

He shrugged. "Abe called from the airport twenty minutes ago – They should be here any minute."

I gaped. "Well, why didn't you say so!" He smirked and playfully hit his shoulder against mine. Idiot.

Sure enough, not even five minutes later, Janine and Abe came rushing through the doors. "Sorry about the delay, getting from Dubai took a while, we had to wait seven hours in London for the next flight," Janine apologized, while Abe was a lot quicker to ask the one important question:

"How is she?"

I looked at Christian, not sure how to explain the situation. "The doctor will be here in a minute, we were just waiting for you, but… you should prepare yourself," he answered discreetly.

Abe cursed, and Janine's otherwise emotionless face fell. "She isn't…" Realizing their line of thought, I quickly rushed in.

"No, no, she survived. She pulled off surgery and should make a full recovery. I think it might be better if the doctors explain the rest."

They nodded, somewhat satisfied and went to notify the front desk of their arrival. The doctor, as promised, came to find us soon after that and pulled us aside. "So, Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway-" he started, but Abe cut him off.

"Mazur. Mr. Mazur and Miss. Hathaway," he corrected. The doctor blinked and looked at the pair with their arms around each other and worried for their child, then shrugged as if thinking 'ah, what the heck: They don't pay me enough for this'.

"Right, Mr. Marzur, Miss. Hathaway: Your daughter was very fortunate to survive the accident. I had the honor of performing surgery on her, and we were able to stop the bleeding in her brain and save her ability to move. A very satisfying result, considering the injuries she came in with. Her right arm and leg are broken, but they should heal up just fine. Really, she was lucky she didn't gain more injuries, considering the extent of the accident. We believe she wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was thrown out of the car, which, ironically, ultimately saved her life," he exclaimed with a tight smile. I knew this: I had heard it all before when the police interviewed me. I also knew that had she been wearing her seat belt, then she would have remained in her seat, and the collision would have pushed her legs into her body, with such force, that the bones would have pierced through the skin, and she would have bled out instantly. I didn't know how it happened. She put on her seatbelt when she got in the car - I was sure of that. She always reminded me to do the same, ever since the first crash. And I never needed to be told, neither of us did. We survived one crash for heck's sake, we knew that shit was important.

"I get a feeling you are leaving something out, doc," Abe stated, and the doctor sighed, letting the arm holding the cart fall to his side.

"When Miss. Hathaway woke up it became clear, that her brain had suffered some damage, which we were unable to detect pre-operation-" he took a deep breath while Abe and Janine held theirs. "Her memory seems to be unstable, which isn't uncommon with head injuries. Right now, it seems to jump, but she knows who she is, and she seems to recognize Miss Dragomir every time, which is a good sign."

A strange sound came from Janine, and I soon realized it was a chocked back sob. "What else does she remember? I mean - how far back is her memory?" Abe asked concerned, almost panicked, and I realized that there was a high-risk that Rose didn't even know who he was.

The doctor, unaware of this tragedy, sighed and shrugged. "Her most recent memories seem to be a few years old, but as I said, it is very unstable." I could sense their raising panic and decided to jump in quickly.

"You said you had a treatment plan prepared, right?" He had mentioned something earlier that day, which was what I, personally, had been waiting for. He nodded, excited to give some good news.

"Yes, well not as much treatment as a recap. Since Miss. Hathaway seems to react positively when given information about more recent events we are going to see if we can slowly push her memory forward a little, hoping the slow process and the right order will help her remember and hold on to the memories. Using someone she is sure to recognize, a parent or a childhood friend, we'll let her slowly regain her memory, at her own speed." I felt excited about this, feeling his confidence in the project rub off on me.

"And that'll help?" Abe asked, and this time the doctor hesitated a little.

"Hopefully yes. It has been done before with great results, and Miss. Hathaway is one of the more fortunate cases. So far, she has even been able to remember things from after the accident, showing us that she is capable of layering and preserving new information." We all relaxed a little upon hearing this. I knew they had done tests on her, but I didn't know of the results until now.

"Lissa should be the one to do it. She is the one Rose feels closest to," Janine stated. The doctor looked at Abe for confirmation then nodded satisfied.

"Well, if you all feel comfortable with that, then we should get started as soon as possible," he stated and started explaining details. We laid out a plan: I was going to talk to her, catch up where she was and then slowly feed her new information following the events she referred too herself. I felt confident and in less than an hour, they had set up monitoring, and I was ready to begin.

Rose was luckily awake when I entered.

"Hi." She greeted me with a small smile that I returned.

"Hi."

She straightened up a little and looked at my arm sling concerned. "You're okay? That was pretty rough back there."

I nodded and put a hand on her arm. "Yeah, I am fine, how are you?" she rolled her eyes a little.

"Well, I've been better, but what can you expect when being thrown around by a strigoi?" I smiled a little at her easy attitude.

"Did they catch him?" I wasn't sure what she was referring to, but nodded, hoping she would fill me in more. She let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank god! They'll lock him away for good, you know that right? Victor will never see the light of day again." I was finally able to locate the incident. This was after her fight with Nathalie – if you could call it that.

"I know, thank you for being so badass all the time."

She smiled. "Well, Dimitri kind of saved the day, didn't he? I have to admit, for a Russian jailor, he does save my ass a lot," she joked, hidden gratefulness underneath.

I smiled, remembering she didn't know I knew of their romance yet. "Well, I'd say Christian did pretty good too," I joked, and she rolled her eyes.

"By almost getting killed? And needing major saving and sacrifice on my part? Sure, whatever, if you want to think he is brave, go ahead, in my mind, he is just stupid," she bitched.

I rolled my eyes at that. "So, I hear Kirova gave you some privileges again?" I asked, trying to push her memory a little. She smiled excitedly.

"Yeah, finally! Couldn't walk the straight and narrow much longer anyway," she joked.

"And with the scavengers' hunt coming up," I added, and she made a face.

"Yeah, still gonna be on good behavior for that tho."

I laughed, "probably a good idea, but I will need you to do me a tiny little favor and win it for me."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, those damn truffles. I'll get them for you princess, and your emo knight, or whatever."

I smiled and gave her a squeeze.

"Thank you so much for doing that, by the way!"

"Wasn't like it wasn't fun. Anyway, Mason got his box of crappy wine, so." I felt terrified at her comment about Mason, hoping she would remember, and not be too crushed about it. So far, it seemed she was filling in blanks and moving forward without me having to tell her. I talked about something else, and we kept moving forward until she thought she had broken something while skiing with Mason, and that was why she was in the hospital.

"Liss?" She asked me pouting. I laughed, knowing she was about to ask a favor.

"Yes, Rose?" She smiled, knowing I had already agreed to whatever it was.

"Could you go get me some lipgloss? I mean, if anyone comes by, I want to at least look hot."

I smiled, feeling the need to take a break from this myself. "Sure." I squeezed her hand and left to go to the hospital supply store. As soon as I closed the door, I was swarmed.

"How did it go?" Christian asked. I smiled a little tight.

"Good, I think. She seems to remember. I got her up to somewhere right before Spokane." I saw the pain in his eyes at the mentioning of Spokane, but he kept smiling reassuringly.

"That is great, hon."

The doctor cleared his throat loudly, and we all jumped a little, looking at him weary that this might be bad news.

"I think you made a lot of good progress," he stated "Now, I really want you to take a break, and then go back in to see if she still remembers. If she does, then it is working, and her memories are sticking. If she doesn't, we might need to try a different approach." I nodded and took Christian's hand, pulling him with me to the store. We were walking back through the entrance hall when I spotted Dimitri walking around. Although he looked utterly depressed, I still felt anger wield up at the sight of him.

"Why is he still around?!" I heard myself sneer, and Christian looked at me shocked.

"He is her boyfriend, Liss. He is worried, just like us." I wrinkled my nose.

"He should, it is his fault she is in here. He shouldn't even be allowed around here." Christian clearly didn't agree, but didn't say anything to me. Instead, he walked over to talk to Dimitri. I hesitantly followed, not feeling good about it. They were talking in grim voices, but stopped when I approached. Dimitri nodded his head to me in a hesitant greeting. I did the same, waiting to attack him till later.

"How is she?" He asked, worried. I was about to snap at him again when I noticed his appearance. His hair was a mess, he looked like he hadn't slept in days, still wearing the same blood-stained clothes and a stumble already showing on his chin. I sighed, taking pity on him.

"Better, we are making progress, I think."

Hope shone in his eyes. "She remembers?" I frowned, not knowing how to describe it.

"Not exactly. She remembers more. As in, she remembers in the right order and doesn't just jump around in memories. But it is a slow process, and we haven't moved past Spokane yet." He nodded thoughtful and sad.

"She doesn't remember anything from after the academy?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"No, but we are hoping to get there soon." He nodded, seeming lost for words.

"I won't hold you any longer then," he stepped aside, and we went along without any further exchange. Back in her room, I smiled at her, feeling anxious when I entered. Would she remember even a little?

"Hi, did you get it?" She asked me happily, and I felt relieved that she did remember. Holding up the tube, I smiled, and we started chatting again, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get her past Spokane. Eventually, I gave up, knowing I had to give her the next piece of information myself.

"Did it hurt, getting you marks?" I asked and then watched in horror as her face turned blank, and then she started asking me about my family again. All I could muster was an 'I don't know', and then I excused myself to the bathroom, needing to get out of there fast, or I was sure I would suffocate. I bolted from the room and fell straight into Christian's arms. It took him a long time to soothe me, but eventually, I was ready to talk to the doctor. He explained, that it wasn't that she couldn't make progress, but that I had pushed her too far, and her mind couldn't handle the trauma again.

"We just have to start over," he told me, and I nodded, dried my eyes and went in again. And again. And again. Every time I managed to get a little further, I screwed up again, and we had to start over again. By the end of the day, I was exhausted but decided it was better to end on a high note and left her somewhere during the field experience. At least she knew Mason was dead and had stopped crying. I bid her goodnight and felt completely exhausted as Christian helped me to our hotel.

**And that was chapter 3. What you think, have Dimitri suffered enough yet? I mean, he did hit her with a car...**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Alright darlings, this is the fourth chapter. It is just a little sweet moment, and also you can call me the genie for fulfilling one of your wishes. Here you go and do not forget to comment! _**

Abe pov

We had been waiting for that entire day to get to a point where we could talk to Rose, but the process took time, and by the end of the day, only Janine had been able to see her for a few moments. I felt crushed that my little girl, my daughter, whose life I had missed out on, now didn't know who I was again. It was devastating. I left Janine to rest in our room and wandered around, hoping to clear my head with a little fresh air, but it didn't do me any good. The hospital seemed to be a magnet for families torn apart, and all it did was remind me of my own, terrible, situation. At last, I couldn't take it anymore. I went to see her. I knew I wasn't supposed to, but she probably wouldn't remember me anyway, and I felt like, at least this way, I could see for myself that she was alive and well. Visiting hours were over, so I had to sneak in there, but it wasn't very hard. I was hoping, maybe she would be asleep, and I wouldn't even have to make up a lie to protect the progress the princess had made with her. She wasn't. She had somehow moved her bed into the middle of the room, so she could sit up and watch the stars and the city lights outside. She looked up startled when she heard me come in, but sent me a small smile.

"Oh, it is you," she said and turned back to the stars. It took a moment for me to register what her words meant. 'It is you' – she had recognized me! Knowing she knew I wasn't a stranger, I felt better, walking up to sit on the bed beside her. She had scooted back, so her leg brace was resting on the bed's wide side, and her back rested against the side of the bed. "I am sorry. I know I was supposed to leave Russia right away, but I had some unfinished business," she told me, and I tried to figure out what time she was currently in.

"I know, I just wish you would have done as I told you."

She didn't look at me but at her lap. "I couldn't just leave him in that state," she whispered, and I didn't know what to say, so I stayed quiet. I could tell her Belikov wasn't strigoi, but she might not be able to process that. After a little time, she looked up at me again.

"We aren't in Russia now." It wasn't a question - it was a statement. She was pleading with her eyes for me to tell her the truth. I shook my head at her, and she sighed looking over the city again.

"What aren't you telling me?" She asked, and I searched for an easily believable lie but came up empty. So, I settled for the truth or at least some of it.

"You hit your head. There are some things you don't remember."

She nodded and pointed at her head bandage. "I figured that much." I felt a tug at the edge of my lips - she still had her wits.

"You spoke with your mother when you returned from Russia," I told her and hoped she would fill in the blank herself. She smiled a little wicked and looked at me sideways.

"Yeah… Guess I should be calling you old man?" My heart fluttered a little at that old nickname.

"Little girl."

She rolled her eyes, still smiling, then turned serious looking at the window again.

"Where are we?"

"Philly." She pursed her lips.

"Philly," she tasted on the word, then shook her head.

"I can't be in Philly, I need to be at the academy if I want to graduate." I gave her a small smile.

"I think they'll make an exception: You already know all you need to." She frowned.

"But my leg is broken, and I think my arm is too. How can I graduate with that?" I put a hand on her healthy shoulder.

"It'll heal, don't worry. There is plenty of time for it to heal." She smiled, trusting my words and looked out the window again. At some point, I think she fell asleep, cause her head landed on my shoulder unexpectedly. I gently laid her down and tucked her in. I didn't know if she would remember tomorrow, but for now, at least I had that moment with her.

Lpov

"Uno." She said with a lazy smile. I knew with her next move, she would have won the game, but I was okay with that. It was just an excuse to talk to her. I was having a hard time figuring out where she was today. She was talking graduation, mocking my relationship and gossiping about things I had long forgotten, but I couldn't pinpoint the time.

"You think my parents will be there?" I blinked a few times then remembered she was still thinking of graduation.

I nodded. "Yeah, why wouldn't they?"

She shrugged. "You know my mom. She might cancel at the last minute if she even bothers to tell me she isn't coming. But I think my dad will - we talked yesterday, and he was being really supportive about this whole thing," she nodded towards her leg cast, hinting to her handicap. I tried hard but couldn't make it match my own memory – since when was Rose and her dad speaking on a daily basis?

"You talked to him?" She nodded.

"Yeah, he came in here last night. I know we are in Philly, btw," she smiled slyly at my surprised face.

"Oh, and you know why we are here?" I asked, and she pouted.

"I know I don't remember some things, but I am not sure exactly why we are in Philly," she explained. I considered telling her but decided not to. I didn't want to throw her back to scratch again.

"You'll find out," I told her, collecting our cards and putting them aside. "I'll go get us some snacks," I added, and she smiled approvingly. I went outside and attacked Abe as soon as I laid eyes on him. "What on earth do you think you are doing?!" I all but screamed, getting a few surprised stares from the people around us.

Abe looked at me confused. Holding up the spoon of the yogurt, he was about to eat, as if it somehow held the answers. "Eating?"

I let out a frustrated sigh. "No, not that! You went to talk to Rose last night! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! You could have ruined all my work!" He just looked at me a few minutes then a smile broke out on his face.

"You mean she remembers?" for a moment I was just stunned, then a smile broke out on my face too.

"Yeah, she does." We talked to the doctor, who was even more excited about it than we were.

"It means her brain is working to compensate for the missing connection, but her memory is still intact", he explained, "she'll be able to make new memories, which is good." We spent the rest of the day taking turns to talk to her. She was doing well but didn't recover any further. The doctor still seemed pleased. "She isn't jumping randomly, meaning her mind has stabilized. She can store new information, so her short-term memory isn't ruined, and she might make a full recovery. We just need to give her time and keep doing what we are doing," he summed up around 8 pm before he went in to check up on her.

"Hi doc," Rose chimed happily and flashed him a smile.

"Hi, how is my favorite patient?" he asked looking up from his chart.

"I bet you say that to all your patients," she pouted.

"Only to the ones who won't remember long enough to tell the others," he joked, and she laughed. She had been able to recognize him and a few nurses, which gave us hope for the future.

"Have you taken your meds?" he asked, and she gave him a crooked smile.

"Don't remember."

He laughed and checked the chart. "The nurses say you did," he informed her, and she shrugged, telling me she knew she had. They talked a little more, and he did a few tests then asked that we'd say goodnight so she could sleep.

We went downstairs afterward to catch a few things at the store before going back to the hotel. We were on our way out when I caught sight of a tall figure hunched over in a chair. I didn't know if it was the progress she had made today that made me do it, but I finally took a little pity on him and went over to talk to him.

"You should go home," I told him as I approached. He hadn't even looked up. When he did, I barely recognized him. He had big shadows under his eyes, his hair was a greasy mess, he still hadn't changed clothes, and I think I might have smelt him a few meters away. He looked at me with a hollow expression, and it took a few moments before he shook his head.

"It isn't home without her," he said looking back down at the floor. I sighed and looked back at Christian for support, but I was apparently on my own with this.

"You are starting to smell, and the staff is looking at you weirdly. It isn't as if she'll know that you are gone." It wasn't the right thing to say, I knew that, and I watched as his face fell, if possible, even more. "Look when she does remember you, don't you want to look proper?" I asked him more gently.

He took a moment to think, then he spoke again, this time in a raspy voice. "Is she?" I considered not telling him. Considered letting him suffer a little more, but looking at his face, I knew I couldn't bring more pain to him than he was already in.

"She is better. We are making progress."

He looked a tiny bit hopeful again. "Has she moved past Spokane?" He asked, remembering where we left off last time. I nodded.

"Yes, Abe, actually, helped her get there." I was still unhappy about the fact that he went rough, but I couldn't deny that it had worked.

"So, she knows he is her father?" The corner of his lips turned up when I nodded. He then nodded a little to himself and stood up.

"You are right. I should go get cleaned up - if she sees me like this, she probably won't even recognize me," he joked and took his duster from the chair. Finally, Christian came over to us as well.

"Do you have a car to get back to court in?" He asked. Dimitri thought about it then shook his head negative.

"No, I am really sorry about your car - I promise I'll cover the damage." Christian shook his head. "The insurance will cover it, I am sure. Here, take one of ours and go home get some sleep and some fresh clothes." He handed him the keys to one of the SUVs parked outside. We had called for extra guards, seeing as Rose was 'sick', and Dimitri wouldn't be able to concentrate on guarding, even if he had remembered it at the current time. While I was a little surprised at how nonchalant Christian was about handing over the car to someone who already wrecked two of our cars, I agreed that Dimitri needed to go home. Hopefully, tomorrow we would get further, and she would be able to remember who he was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, guys! OMG I know it has been so long since my last update, I just got caught up in exams and had to take the time to focus. Anyways here is chapter five, I hope you like it!**

Cpov

Lissa and Abe had spent all of yesterday with Rose, leaving little room for much else or anyone else, but the doctor had been satisfied.

"She might be ready for a little more today," he told Janine and me the next morning, while both our spouses had gone out cold from yesterday's work and slept in.

"I'd like for one of you to go talk with her today and maybe take her for a walk later today. Get a clear impression of where she is and just let her go at her own space," he explained to us more detailed. I looked expectantly at Janine for her to go first, she was her mother after all, but she shook her head.

"If she is where they left off yesterday, then she'll expect to see you," she concluded rationally. How such a rational woman had created a hothead like Rose, I'd never get. While I wanted to go in first, I also felt like she was taking this too lightly - she was Rose's mother after all.

"You are sure you don't want to? I mean; she probably doesn't know what to expect at all," I tried a little half-heartedly.

Janine considered, but urged me on: "Yeah, you go in, and I'll come by later."

I felt satisfied with that compromise and went in to talk to Rose. She was already awake and had finished her breakfast: The empty tray stood left as evidence on one of the chairs.

"Hi, forgetful Lucy," I joked as I entered. She blinked at me slowly with a wide smile on her face, still a bit hazy from her sleep, I think.

"Hi, sparky."

I walked over and put the tray on the small table so I could sit beside her. "How are you?"

She shrugged. "Restless. I really need to get out of here."

I smiled a little, of course, she was. An active person like Rose would be ready to chew her own leg off after sitting still for a couple of days.

"Well I got some good news then – the doctor says I can take you for a walk later today."

She straightened up, immediately more awake. "Really? Can I get crunched instead of a wheelchair? I really need to move!"

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yes, of course, you can - if the doctor allows it." She pouted but didn't fight me on it. I remembered why I was there and turned to her a little more serious.

"Rose… What is the last thing you remember?" She didn't look directly at me when she answered, but did so nonchalantly.

"Lissa asking me the very same question yesterday," she noted dryly, then she turned around and flashed me a smile. "I know graduation is coming close, and that I need to get out of this place pretty damn soon," she pointed out matter-of-factly.

I nodded, aware of that as Lissa had told me. "Yeah, we need to get you up and running soon."

She looked up at the ceiling as if talking to the sky. "Thank god! Someone finally gets it! All Lissa has been talking about is my damn head! Like my kneecap isn't shattered or something," she growled and made an annoyed face. I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit happy to have her attitude back.

"You know, we could probably get you a mini scooter so you can terrorize the hallways like an old lady gone wild!"

She laughed, really laughed, and the smile stayed on for which I was glad. "Seriously tho, fireball: I need to get up and going. Could you fix something, and I don't know, help to get some training set up or something?" She pleaded with me and made puppy eyes at me, and I almost did as she asked then and there until I remembered; she didn't actually need to graduate, as she already had, and all she needed was to recover.

"You focus on getting well, and we'll figure out the rest," I promised her putting a hand on her healthy knee. She looked skeptic but didn't push it.

"So that walk?" She asked, knowing when to retreat. Sometimes.

I shook my head. "Later. First, we need to talk, because Lissa is right – your head is pretty messed up."

She chuckled, "as if that is something new."

Was she really making a joke at a time like this? But yes she was, and I loved her for it. Launching into the questions I had been given, I soon gathered that she didn't remember anything more than she did yesterday, and I wasn't able to push her forward any bit. By noon I decided it was better to take her out instead. Maybe seeing something other than the hospital room would trigger something. I went outside to get her something to get around with and ran straight into Lissa, who had been waiting eagerly outside.

"I brought her some clothes. How is she?"

I took the bag she held out to me.

"Nothing new, she's still on the same point as yesterday. I was going to take her for a walk, just outside or something – have you seen the doctor?" She nodded and went to get him. I went back inside and gave the bag to Rose so she could change into something other than a hospital gown, then I went out to talk to the doctor about whatever she should have a wheelchair or crutches. He told me she could have crunches if she wanted to, but we had to be careful that she didn't rest on her knee, or it wouldn't heal properly. Provided with the crutches, I went back in to give her the good news, while Lissa cleared the route with the doctor.

"Ready?" I asked her, helping her with the crunches. She was dressed in a white tank top, a patterned wrap skirt, which I was fairly sure was the only one she owned, or maybe one of Lissa's, and an open grey hoodie. Something easy to get into with her broken limps.

"Ready," she said, as she raised herself with the help of the crutches. She was mainly relying on one side, only using her shoulder to move the other crutch, but then gave up after a few meters and left it behind, using only one to serve as a second leg so she could move forward. It was slow, but she made it work. We meet her parents outside, both a bit hesitant, but she seemed happy to see them regardless, and the five of us went out to show her around. It took a few hours and several stops and breaks, but we finally got her down to the small supply store. She was doing well, I thought, laughing at both our jokes and her handicap, and spirits were high. Abe and I were helping her find a table, while Lissa and Janine got us some food when, suddenly, a voice cut through the noise and reached my ear: "Roza!"

Abe and I looked up at the same time and saw Dimitri, coming from the door and towards us. Rose hadn't heard him yet, our Moroi senses had a slight advance on her dhampire genes. I was about to wave him over when Abe stopped me.

"Could you take Rose over there," he pointed to the other side of the room "I got something, I need to take care of," he explained. I knew it was a trick to distract her, but I helped and lead her away.

"Sure, come on Rosie."

She glared but followed me willingly, and I sat her down a little away, not daring to look back before I had her out of the way.

"Stay here: I'll go help the girls with the food," I told her, and hurried back in time to see Dimitri and Abe getting into what appeared to be an argument.

"You can't keep her from me! She is my girlfriend!" Dimitri argued upset while Abe blocked his way. Obviously, he wasn't strong enough to actually keep Dimitri back, but, out of respect, Dimitri still kept his distance from the older moroi.

"Dimitri, you need to listen," I tried to interfere between them. Abe looked at me through squeezed eyes but eventually took a step back to let me speak. Dimitri returned the favor by not bolting for Rose and relaxed a little, waiting for me to continue.

"Rose… We have made process since yesterday, which is great, but.." I hesitated, not knowing how to tell him.

"But what?" He demanded. I sighed and looked back to make sure she hadn't moved or come to look for us.

"Rose's mind is currently at a point right before graduation," I stated and hoped he would figure out the rest himself, but he didn't.

"So? Christian, what are you trying to tell me?"

Abe sighed and exclaimed: "To Rose, you aren't you at the moment, Dimitri."

Realization finally drew on him, and he took a step back while his face crumbled in shock.

"No, oh god no, tell me it isn't true," he begged me, and I didn't know what to say, so I stayed quiet instead. He shook his head in disbelief, and Abe looked at him with sympathy. I wondered if he knew it was Dimitri who had hit their car.

"I am sorry, but it is. She'll move past it, I am sure, but she needs time." Dimitri didn't move or say anything. For several moments he just stood there. Then he pulled himself together.

"If that is the case, then she doesn't need me near. It'll do more harm than good if she sees me. I'll go home - call me as soon as she gets better?" He asked, and we agreed to that. As long as he wasn't going to run into Rose in her current state. We went back to her after that and tried to keep up the act as if everything was normal.

Dpov

It was hot in the room, but I wasn't sweating a drop. I was way too worried to be nervous. It was a simple exchange of information to place guilt and settle insurance responsibility. I already knew it was my fault, so I wasn't really nervous. I probably should be, seeing as this could put me in debt for the rest of my life in medical bills, but I didn't care as long as Rose got the care she needed.

"We'll move on to the photo evidence from the scene," some man in a suit said and pushed a button on a tiny remote. I hadn't seen the footage, but I had been there, so I didn't think I would be surprised by it. I was wrong.

The first footage was taken by a surveillance camera. It showed the traffic light from above. It was close to empty until Rose's car drove forwards into it. There was nothing wrong with her driving, it was according to the book. She blinked and waited to make sure the way was clear so that she could turn. Then a car, my car, came crashing into it out of nowhere. I cringed, but that didn't stop them from going back and play it in slow-motion. The lawyer slowed the pace down and zoomed in on the crash that forever ruined our lives. It wasn't me he was after, so my lawyer didn't comment, but I observed the princess closely for her reaction.

"Clearly, as you can see on this footage, the car was turning when the crash happened. By normal circumstances, this would have caused a crash in miss Dragomir's side of the car. As we all know the most of the impact was on Miss Hathaway's side, and if we look closely on this footage it appears Miss. Hathaway spun the wheel so that she would take the impact and therefore caused the damage to herself."

I got a bad taste in my mouth. This creep was actually trying to put the blame on Rose.

"Objection!" Lissa's lawyer, Damon Tarus, exclaimed. "Miss Hathaway took the impact to save Miss Dragomir from the crash. She couldn't have avoided it, and hadn't she acted with such reflexes, then perhaps we would be discussing involuntary manslaughter and arranging a funeral instead." I tried not to think about that. I tried not to think about that I could have killed Lissa. A princess, the last of her line, and the woman who had saved my soul. Still, what I wouldn't give for it to be Roza to be the one to be unharmed.

The legal fight went on until they prepared to show the second footage. It was from inside my car cabin. It showed me, driving like a madman and then the crash, then me getting out of the car to help. My lawyer spoke a lot of fancy words, but I didn't really listen. She was good, Christian assured me that, so she would get the job done regardless of my participation. Finally, we got to the important tape. The one we were really fighting about. It was from the girls' car. It showed them, laughing and singing, till the phone rang. Rose responsibly put it on Bluetooth, so she didn't have to let go of the wheel. I heard my mother's frantic voice give Rose the same message she had given me. The girls changed direction and went towards Philly. They fast-forwarded to the crash. She drove out into the empty traffic light, then her face showed shock, determination, and fierceness, as she spun the wheel to save the princess. But that wasn't the only interesting thing about the footage. The executer replayed the last part a few times in slow motion and the slower it got, the clearer it became that Rose had not only spun the wheel. In those final moments before impact, she had unbuckled herself and thrown herself over Lissa to cover her. She probably broke Lissa's arm, but saved her life, as Rose's back took off for the shattered glass as the windshield broke. Then the force of the crash swung her out of the car through the broken windshield, and the camera went black. My only thought was what happened after the camera was no longer filming, but the lawyers in place were discussing completely different things. When we finally stepped out, I was completely lost and confused.

"So, what is going to happen?" I asked my lawyer dumbly once we were outside. She looked at me weirdly, but answered professionally.

"We're suing the car company." That was the short answer. I didn't get it: I drove the car, what did the car company have to do with it?

"Why?" She sighed and mumbled something about clients never listening.

"The airbags didn't go off. If they had then the injuries would have been severely lessened. So, if you are lucky, you won't have to pay a dime." I didn't feel very lucky, seeing as my girlfriend had lost her memory and I was responsible for that. When I told her so, she looked at me like I was ridiculous and just waved me off. I knew I was getting nowhere and went to find Lissa instead. I found her talking to Christian in the foyer. They grew quiet when they spotted me coming over.

"Dimitri…" She hesitated. "That was really rough in there – are you okay?"

I nodded still trying to get it all to make sense. "Yeah – I don't think I quiet understand it all tho."

She nodded and empathy I hadn't seen in her for the last week shone in her eyes again.

"I hate all of this insurance stuff. It is all so messy and cynical. Anyways, sounds like it isn't too bad?"

I nodded. "Yes, we are apparently suing, since the airbags didn't go off."

She nodded. "Yeah, you'll still get a fine and a mark on your license, but they are going after the big fish, fortunately. Otherwise, they would've made Rose pay my medical bill."

I frowned. Obviously, Lissa had paid closer attention than I had.

"Why?"

She frowned and rolled her eyes. "She broke my arm when she saved my life. It is so stupid, I can't even start to explain."

It was, I would never get the way the American system worked like that. "How is your arm by the way?"

She shrugged. "Fine, it'll heal soon enough. The doctor says six weeks, but with my vampire genes, it'll be over in less than three. How is your sister?" I shrugged as well.

"Fine, she is up and as annoying as ever. Now her biggest problem is my sisters and I want to beat up whatever asshole got her pregnant," I growled, getting worked up just from thinking about it.

She giggled. "I am sure she learned her lesson about safe-sex. They signed travel insurance, right?" I nodded, thank god my mother had done that so - they wouldn't have to deal with the overly expensive medical treatment. There was a moment of silence before Christian place his hand on Lissa's lower back.

"Well, we got to go. It is a long drive to Philly, and we promised Abe we would be there for the check-up today."

I nodded and finally found the nerve to ask the question really pressing. "I want to say 'how is she' but it feels like I've said that far too many times."

They both looked a little pained then Christian took the lead. "It is complicated. She is improving, she is, but… She is still stuck in those weeks before graduation. She remembers new information tho, which is great. We just need to give her some time to get there."

I sighed. I knew, staying away from her was virtual right now, but it felt like a stabbing pain was getting worse every day spent away from her.

"You don't think... Maybe if she saw me-"

"NO!" Lissa exclaimed, surprising us both. "I mean-" she collected herself and looked a little sheepish "I know it is hard, but she doesn't react well to getting information forced through. We are trying to get her to remember, Dimitri, we are. You just have to be patient."

I, myself, felt like I had been overly patient already, but didn't know how long was long enough.

"She reacted well to Abe tho? I mean, that helped, didn't it?" Lissa looked wary.

"What Abe did was stupid and reckless. It helped yes, but it could just as well have ruined the process we made. I know you want to see her, Dimitri, but the last time I pushed her to remember something, she blanked, and we were back to scratch. I just don't want to risk it."

"But it is less than a year right. She'd have to relive less than a year." I felt terrible for saying it, but I was getting desperate.

"The worst year of her life. Dimitri, think about it. How she was after Viktor, after Spokane, when she thought she was going crazy, you didn't even see her after the attack, or when she thought she had killed you. Do you really want her to relive that?" I didn't. She made me realize just how selfish I had been to even ask. Without further I let them leave, not knowing what to do with myself. My family was still here, yet I didn't feel like seeing them. Shame and grief were still the most dominant feeling I had, and every time I saw them, it got worse. I don't think they really knew what to do either. It didn't really feel like a vacation when Rose was in the hospital, yet I think they found it disrespectful to cut the stay short and go home. They too felt some kind of responsibility for what had happened, but just like me, they were banished from her bedside. Abe had argued that, although they weren't in the same position as me, it would still be weird if they suddenly showed up by her bedside in Philly. I guess that made sense. Seeing as Hans had put me on desk duty till further notice, I didn't have much else to do than that and hanging around the hospital hoping for a miracle. That and visiting the library, and doing research on memory loss and a cure.


	6. Chapter 6

Abe's Pov

Dealing with a trauma like this was something most families feared and would never wish to go through. So that is why it was so weird, that somehow, it had brought ours closer together. I had spent most of the last few days with my daughter, doing what normal fathers would. I had taken her out on walks and played charts with her, and tried to keep her mind off of her injuries. Janine had taken a while to come around, but eventually, she joined us. It was like we were one big happy family, and I felt like, I knew Rose better, than I ever had before. Of course, getting used to her feeling and acting like an 18-year-old took a while, but eventually, it got easier. So it was rather unexpected what went down at check-up that day.

"So doc, when can I go home?" Rose asked suddenly with an easy smile while the doctor checked on her.

He laughed and kept up the tests. "Soon, I promise. You seem to be healing remarkably fast, so your leg should be fine in a few weeks."

She frowned a little. "Weeks…" she muttered then gazed up at him again. "And my head?"

he sighed. "That is a different story. Rose, I don't mean to worry you, but we were expecting to see more results. We will, I am sure, but for now, I think it might be better to keep you under observation." Her frown deepened. I felt like now was the time to tell them something that had been weighing on my heart for a while.

"Actually, Doctor, I was considering bringing Rose with me to my home in Istanbul. It'd be an experience, and she could finish school there." The room suddenly got deadly quiet.

No one said anything for a while till the doctor broke the silence. "Mr. Mazur, Miss Hathaway, can I talk to you outside?" his tone was strict and very controlled.

"Well yes, but you might have to help me up first," Rose joked from her position on the bed. The doctor gave her a reassuring smile and then exited the room and asked us to follow. Outside, hell broke loose.

"What on earth were you thinking, bringing that up in front of her!" Janine scolded.

"I thought it to be a great idea. She can get out of here, and there won't be anything to trigger her memory in the wrong direction."

"There won't be anything to trigger it in the right direction either. She'd make new memories, but she'd still be 18. Forever. She'd never graduate or get her own life!"

"She could get a new life, graduate all over again. Think about it, we could make it right this time!" I argued. While Rose had definitely made the most of her situation, this was not the life I had dreamed of for my only child.

"And what if she remembers? What then? How do you think she'll feel, knowing we kept her from remembering her life?" She practically screamed.

"But if she doesn't? Don't make me the bad guy for trying to shield our little girl from all the hurt the world has thrown at her."

"The world is full of hurt, Ibrahim, you can't shield her from that, or from the people who love her."

"You mean her pedophile boyfriend, who hit her with a car?!"

The doctor cleared his throat, reminding us of his presence. "So, obviously, there are some personal issues, I don't want to get into. However, as a professional, I'll recommend not moving her from the states. I think it'll be best if you take her to where she remembers being. Her hometown perhaps?"

"Boarding school." Janine corrected. "She graduated from a boarding school in Montana."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Then take her there and maybe she'll remember. In time, of course, I don't recommend taking a long flight before she is completely healed." We nodded and thanked him before continuing our bickering. Janine wanted to take Rose back to skt. Vladimirs as soon as possible, I still insisted it'd be better to take her to Turkey. I don't know how long we fought, but we were interrupted by Christian Ozera, wearing a suit with his jacket on his arm.

"Where is Rose?" We looked confused until it dawned on us, he was looking into her room, and obviously, it was empty. The princess came from the bathroom, having already checked without results. Feeling panic rise, we searched everywhere, but without results. Had she heard our fight? Is that why she ran? Each hour without her, the panic rose. We had to alert the hospital, who sent out a message to all of the staff, but without result. We were about to call court and ask them to track her when Lissa came running.

"I know where she is," she panted and tried to catch her breath. "Adrian is coming in with her."

"Adrian!?" Janine exclaimed. "As in her ex-boyfriend Adrian?" Lissa nodded and blushed.

"Well as far as Rose is concerned, it is her current boyfriend Adrian." I cursed having completely forgotten about the Ivashkov boy. We sat together in the waiting room, having spent way too much time there already. Christian too came down once Lissa had called to tell him to stop looking. He was rather amused by it however the rest of us were horrified. Finally, two figures came through the door, one on crutches or well crutch, the other taller figure was mindfully helping her walk.

"Rose!" Lissa exclaimed, quickly jumping up to catch her in an embrace.

"Sorry I ran off like that, I just, got impulsive," Rose apologized seeming very small all of a sudden. We didn't beat her up about it and took her to an area where there were a few couches and stuff for family and patients. Adrian followed and seemed like he didn't want to let go of her quiet yet. I pulled him aside claiming we were getting something to drink.

"How did you find her?" I demanded once out of ear reach. He shrugged.

"She called, seeming really confused and kept rambling. I was close by, so I decided to meet up instead of brushing it off. What happened to her?" He asked with a concerned face. I sighed and put my hands in my pockets.

"Car crash. She hit her head and lost a few years of her memory."

He cursed. "Holy shit. That explains why she called, I guess."

I nodded not sure what to tell him. "What did she say to you?" I asked him, trying to figure out if the experience had moved her memory.

He shook his head. "She wanted to know where I was, if I was okay, and that she missed me. She wanted to go home, and she asked me to take her. I figured something had to be really wrong for her to do that, but I never imagined this.." he cursed again, and I could help but agree. This was really fucked up.

"How bad is it?" He finally asked. I didn't know how to answer, tired of telling people lies.

"We honestly don't know. Her short-term memory seems to be alright, but she can't remember several years. When she woke up, she kept jumping from one memory to another, and right now we just hope she'll remember more in time."

He nodded thoughtfully. "And Belikov? Where is he in all this?"

I chuckled darkly. "Banished currently. For obvious reasons," I said referring to her current sense of time.

"You don't think seeing him might help her?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "I think seeing him will potentially end fatal, and I hope that it will be for him."

He frowned beside me. "She is heads over heels for him, was then too, seeing him might trigger something. At the very least, she'll be willing to believe in his transformation."

I glared at him, not happy with the way this was going. "She doesn't need any more trouble right now. Besides, why are you of all people advocating for him?" he shrugged.

"I lost Rose a long time ago, but that doesn't mean I don't care for her. She deserves happiness, and he gives it to her."

I couldn't help but snort, "and runs her over with a car."

That got his attention. In a split moment, he had spun around to look at me shocked. "He what?! She is in here because of him?!" Anger was glowing in his eyes, and I could practically see steam coming from his ears.

"It was Belikov, who drove the other car AND caused the crash. Ironically, he walked away without a scratch, and she was thrown back to before ever knowing him."

Adrian frowned. "When she woke up, how much did she...?" he didn't need to finish the question.

"The doctors say she kept jumping around in random memories. The earliest was about 14, and the most recent about 2 weeks ago. When she stabilized, it was somewhere before returning to the academy. She didn't know me, Christian, even Belikov was a stranger. It has taken days to get her this far, and there is a risk she'll crash every time we try to push her further."

"Which is why Belikov is banished from her bedside," he concluded.

I nodded, and we walked in silence for a while. "Would you mind hanging around? Just till she comes around?"

He seemed to think about it. After a rather long amount of time, he finally answered. "A few days, I can't promise more."

I felt a new feeling wash over me: gratefulness. "Thank you."

* * *

Lpov

"Adrian please, stop teasing me!" I heard Rose laugh before I walked into her room. She was in bed for once and Adrian was sitting beside her, holding a pudding in a stretched arm. They were fooling around, completely oblivious about my presence.

"Give it back!" she pouted and tried reaching for it. He stuck his tongue out and leaned further out of reach.

"Stealing candy from a crippling?" I teased. They both smiled when they spotted me.

"Lissa do something!" Rose complained, and I laughed, grabbing the pudding from Adrian's hand and handing it to her. She smiled satisfied and dug in immediately, smiling smugly at Adrian.

"So, lovebirds, any plans for today?" I asked teasingly while fighting my inner discomfort.

"Adrian is taking me outside today!" She declared and smiled a little daring. He just laughed and shook his head.

"I am so gonna regret that." She mock-punched him then turned to me.

"Help me get dressed?" I nodded and helped her up and into the bathroom. I had found a summer dress in her wardrobe somewhere, but it still took a while to get it past her arm cast. She looked satisfied in the mirror.

"Do you think they'll let me go home soon?" She asked suddenly a little nervous. I tried to answer truthfully, even tho, I didn't know if she was going to remember anyway.

"I don't know Rose, maybe." She frowned but didn't say anything. Instead, we went outside with Adrian. She still had her crutches, but now she was allowed to rest her leg a little on the ground, as long as she didn't put weight on it.

Being with her and Adrian was weird. Beyond weird, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. Adrian switched between looking mildly uncomfortable, a tiny bit nauseous, and over the moon in love. I felt an uneasiness creep over me as I watched them together. Clearly, Adrian still had feelings for Rose. Rose still thought she had feelings for Adrian, and it was a spiring romance all over again, except this time everyone but Rose knew it was wrong. I didn't know how much of it I could take, and eventually, I pulled Adrian aside, excusing us with 'royal business'.

"What on earth do you think you are doing?" I sneered at him, and he gave me an odd look.

"Helping her get better. What are you doing Lissa?" I tried to spear him with a look.

"No you aren't, you are falling for her again!" His amused face was replaced by a darker and serious one.

"I am not. Look, Liss, this might be hard on you, but everyone isn't crazy about Rose for all eternity. We are over, and I know that. But think about it. This might be my only chance to find some closure. To find out if she actually loved me, or if I was just to blind to see through it." When he said it like that, it made sense. I felt a bit stupid for not thinking of that.

"And what have you concluded?"

He shrugged. "She seems genuine. Then again, she thinks Dimitri is dead, so I can't read much else into her than suppressed grieve."

I sighed. "Just don't play with her okay? I know what happened was awful, but she is fragile right now, and I don't think her mind could take-" he cut me off.

"I am being considerate, Liss, I promise." I really didn't know what else to say, so I just dropped the topic and turned around to go back to Rose, but when I did, she was missing. Already feeling the panic rise, I looked around franticly, when a pained scream reached our ears. Adrian and I exchanged a quick look before running towards the sound. People were already gathering around an unconscious form. I pushed my way through the crowd to see a large man hunched over an unconscious woman. Not just any woman. Rose.

* * *

Cpov.

I found Rose sitting on a bench outside of the hospital in the rapidly disappearing daylight. She was wearing a sundress and seemed bored out of her mind.

"Rose!" I called out, and she looked up and smiled.

"Christian, thank god, someone I know!" She laughed, and I felt a small smile tug at my lips.

"What are you doing out here alone?" She shrugged.

"Lissa and Adrian took me for a walk then abandoned me to talk 'royal stuff'" she rolled her eyes, telling me she didn't really feel abandoned but that she wasn't happy with them leaving her alone either.

"Come on – I have a place I want to show you," I told her with a slight throw of my head, and she quickly gathered her crutches so she could follow.

"How are you feeling?" I asked while we walked the small distance.

"Better. I mean, I know the doctor says, I should be making more process, but I feel better. Clearer somehow. It is like it was all a mess before and now it seems more… sorted out." I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but I tried to look supportive anyway. We reached the dam I wanted her to see.

"This is it? A pond?" She asked, and I laughed a little at her lack of knowledge.

"No not just a pond. This pond followed with the entire west wing of the place which was donated by a very well known family." She looked at me questioningly, suddenly interested.

"Don't tell me…" She started, and I nodded.

"When my father and Tasha inherited my grandfather, a big piece of the fortune went to build this. I didn't know until I read one of the folders out of boredom. Amazing isn't it?" She looked up at the hospital's west wing and nodded.

"I think I can see my room from here – I left the window open." She looked at me with a wicked smile.

"I am going to need to see that folder."

I laughed, "stay here, I'll get it for you." I went inside and grabbed a folder then headed directly out again. I turned my back on her for not even five minutes, but it was enough for disaster to strike. I got to watch it unfold, as I walked through the door. Rose was still standing where I left her, but her eyes where fixated on something, or rather someone. A few meters away Dimitri was standing looking just as stunned, but with a whole other set of emotions. She was shaking her head, eyes wide with fear and sorrow, and then she started screaming. Dimitri who wasn't thinking clear started walking towards her, and her screams got more pained. I could see her body shaking as the shock overtook her mind. Her breathing got rapid through the pained screams, and she fell to her knees' eyes still fixated on Dimitri, who had finally stopped moving forward, but it was too late already. Before I could leap forward to catch her, she fainted. Dimitri was closer; he reached her before my line of sight got cut off by worried bystanders.


	7. Chapter 7

Dpov

This definitely wasn't how I imagined having Rose back in my arms would be like. Her small body seemed even smaller than I remembered and her skin was a sickly nuance of pale. She was unconscious now, but I could still see her wide eyes for me whenever I blinked. I hadn't been planning on running into her, I understood why it was important not to be near her, I was simply picking up a few forms from the hospital and stopped by the yard while waiting for them to finish up. There she was. Alone, for the first time in forever. She didn't see me at first, and I knew I should have turned around and left, but I couldn't help but linger to study her. She looked better than the last time I saw her, but she didn't look good. Then eventually, she looked past the pond and up at me directly. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened to let out a piercing scream. She started shaking on her crutches, I could see, she was going to fall, so I moved closer, but it only made her scream more hysterical, until she fell. I barely caught her, saving her head from further trauma, while also attracting the attention of everyone near us. A security guard cut in quickly and started asking a load of questions I didn't know the answer to when, luckily, Christian came to my aid and explained the situation the best he could. I was allowed to carry her back to her room, but not to be alone with her.

"When is she going to wake up?" The princess asked the doctor, as I put Rose back on her bed.

"Well she passed out due to psychological stress, so it could be anywhere between a few minutes and a few hours. Mr. Belikov, perhaps you would like to go home? It might be better if you aren't here when she comes back around," Rose's doctor advised cleverly. I was more than reluctant to leave. Yes, she had passed out, but there was a chance she might remember when she woke up. If she did, I wanted to be there.

Adrian Ivashkov was more than eager to take my place by her bedside. Being the boyfriend she actually remembered, he was allowed around her all the time, but I wasn't. I wanted to cut his throat. Probably as much as he wanted to cut mine. He had been glaring daggers at me since I brought her in. "You should go," he advised, "she doesn't really need another trauma."

I glared back at him but got up to leave. The doctor wanted me to go, the princess wanted me to go, and Roza's parents wanted me to go so I would go. I ran into Christian on my way out. He had been yelled at by both his girlfriend and my girlfriend's parents for not watching her more closely. And by that, they meant letting her get close to me. "Don't let that creep alone with her," I told him. Although I didn't give him a name, we both knew who I meant.

"Funny," he noted, "he said the same thing about you."

And like that, I was once again banished.

* * *

Rpov

I groaned, as I woke up. The light was too bright, the mattress too thin, the beeping machine too loud. "What the fuck did they do to me," I asked to no one in particular, but someone answered.

"Who are they?" A tiny voice asked.

I squinted my eyes against the light but managed to make out Lissa's angelic face. "Hey, Liss. What are you doing here?" I asked absentmindedly.

"I am looking out for you remember?" She asked, seeming nervous.

"Riiiiight. But what are you doing in…. Wait, where are we again?" I asked, coming up blank on where I was.

Lissa smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "We are in Philly. Do you remember Philly?" She asked me seeming a tiny bit desperate.

I concentrated but came up blank. "No… What are we doing in- Holy shit!" I exclaimed.

"What?" She asked a little too frantic. "What do you remember?"

"Ehm, remember? Not a lot from Stans classes, but pretty much every Eminem song ever. What happened to your arm?!" I asked looking pointedly at the sling on her arm. She looked down on it as if only noticing now herself.

"Oh, we were in an accident," she told me calmly and searched my face for emotion. I tried to reach out and read her mind, but I was met by emptiness. Weird.

"Is that why the bond is numb?" I asked her, concerned about what she might be feeling.

She seemed surprised but nodded. "Yes, gone actually. You died and came back on your own, so the bond is gone," she explained cautiously.

"Oh," I said, "but, what about the darkness then?" I had always pulled her darkness, that is how she stayed sane.

A single tear appeared in the corner of her eye, but she pushed it down with a smile. "I am managing," she tried to convince me. "What is the last thing, you remember?" She asked again more insistently.

"I-" I paused, still coming up empty on the memory thing. "I don't know. Sorry. It hurts when I try. Is Sparky here? And Adrian?" I asked her concerned and looked at the closed door.

She nodded and removed the tear, when she thought I wasn't looking. "Yeah, right outside, here let me just get them." She stood up and practically fleed the room. Only seconds later Adrian entered, wearing a bright smile and a pale green polo-shirt that looked amazing on him, even though he looked a lot older than last I had seen him. Maybe six or seven years older.

"Hi little dhampir," he coed, "heard you hit your head?"

I nodded and reached for his hand. Adrian was actually such a nice guy. Part of me would always love Dimitri, but it was time to move on, and who better than the stunning man before me to move on with. "Doc says I doing great tho," I lied and tried to smile.

He nodded as if believing me and reached forward to fluff my pillow for me. "I know, you seem good too."

"Adrian," I paused, "be honest with me: Why are we in Philly? Because I feel like Philly is bad, but I can't put my finger on it," I explained. He truly looked stunned, but then shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, baby, just get some rest," he advised. I did feel tired already, so I took his advice and closed my eyes to get some more sleep in, before facing the rest.

* * *

Lpov

"What does she remember?" Rose's mother asked me as Adrian went in.

"She doesn't. I couldn't get her to tell me at least," I apologized and leaned into Christians embrace.

"Nothing?" She asked again.

"She doesn't know why we are in Philly, she remembers Adrian – she asked for him, so sometime around graduation I think," I guessed. Just as I said that Adrian exited her room.

"She is sleeping," he told us after closing the door.

"Did you get anything?" Janine asked again and he shook his head.

"No, but she seemed to still think we were a couple. Maybe around graduation?"

"That is my guess too," I told him. "are you going to stick around? I mean, how long-?"

"I am staying until she is ready to be released from here," he declared.

"Cool, do you have a place?"

"Yeah, I rented an Airbnb, are you commuting from court?" He asked worriedly.

"No, we are still at the hotel, but we were looking to get out of there."

"Well I have an extra bedroom that I don't use. Just let me contact the host and see if I can book you guys in," he offered.

"That be really great," I confessed. You got tired of the lack of flexibility a hotel room offered.

"No problem, I'll text you when I know," he told us and then wandered off.

We discussed with Janine and Abe, who should watch Rose, and agreed that they would go home, and we would take the first shift. Christian went to talk to Dimitri, while I sat in the hall and watched her through the window. She was still sleeping, but it seemed restless. Eventually she did wake, screaming and kicking, and immediately jumping to her feet, well foot, supporting herself on the bed and looking for an escape. I went in immediately, not wanting her to escape again.

"Rose? Rose what is wrong?" I asked her worriedly. Her eyes flickered to me, first as if not seeing me but then focusing in and she lunged forward and hugged me.

"Gosh I am so glad you are okay," she whispered into my hair as she held on for dear life. I didn't know what to say, I just hugged her back and waited for the crushing moment of her not remembering anything again.

"Rose?" I asked after a couple of moments. "Are you going to let go at some point?" I asked her, making her pull back and wipe her eyes.

"Sorry, it just felt like a decade. When did I even get here?" She asked looking around the room in confusion.

"What is the last thing you remember?" I asked her again, starting to feel worried.

"Helping you punch Avery in the eye," she told me cockily. "Nice punch by the way. I just don't remember getting on the plane from Russia," she wondered. I felt a slight relief. At least we had less to catch up on now than before.

"The hospital moved you, you fell into a coma with all your injuries," I told her. I could see she didn't quite believe me but she let it be for now.

"Where are we anyway?" She asked me, seeming to put together this wasn't the infirmary at skt. Vladimirs.

"Philly," I told her and she got that glazed off look she got in the beginning as well. Then she blinked a few times shook her head and smiled again.

"Sorry, what were we talking about? Never mind, I am just so happy to see you, but you should go, it is kinda risky for you to be here," she told me worriedly and looked at the door.

"Why would that be risky?" I asked her lightly.

"Because I am a fugitive on the run to escape a death sentence?" She asked looking at me weirdly. Shit.

"We cleared you of that," I explained to her quickly. "Tasha did it?"

"Tasha?!" She gasped shocked. "Oh my gosh, poor Christian. How is he taking it?"

"Pretty hard," I told her seriously. "So maybe don't bring it up?" Christian didn't need another round of that. It took them weeks to go back to a normal level of conversation without Rose showering him in pity every second.

"How can I not?" She gasped, "his aunt tried to frame me for murdering our queen!"

"Yeah, but Rose that was years ago," I told her and waited for her face to go blank again but it didn't. Instead, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed in my arms. "Doctor! Nurse!" I yelled for help, and a female nurse came running in and helped me put Rose back on the bed. She asked me to leave and called for a doctor. I went back outside and ran straight into Christian, who had just come back from his phone call.

"What happened?" He asked confused and took me in his embrace. I hadn't even realized I had started crying.

"She- She- She just collapsed!" I cried into his shirt. I felt his chin nodding against the top of my head. Instead of staying in the hallway, he took me down to the cafeteria to get some food in me. We sat there for hours before heading back.

When we got there Adrian was in already, talking to her lightly and seeming to be joking around. I observed them through the window for a minute before I went in. She seemed happy, but something was different, I could tell. "Hi there," I tried and knocked on the open door. Christian followed behind me, holding onto my waist with one hand as if to make sure I would stay close. "How are you?"

Rose and Adrian exchanged looks, as a mischievous grin flashed across her face. "Hi Liss," she greeted back. "I am pretty good, how are you?"

I sent Adrian a wary look, but his face gave away nothing. "Good, when did you wake up?"

"Bout an hour ago," she smirked. "Adrian was here. He said you guys were nowhere around. Pretty careless to leave a patient with memory loss alone like that, don't you think?" She asked me deviously.

I was stunned at her question. "I- I guess? I am so sorry, but you collapsed and-" They both burst out laughing in the middle of my apology. "What? What is it?" I asked as they wouldn't stop laughing.

Christian figured it out before I did. "Wait: You know that you lost your memory?" He asked her.

"Yep," she confirmed with a smirk. "I am not certain about how: Adrian said something about a car crash? Anyway, I really want to go home soon, so if that is possible could you guys please help a girl out?"

"Home," I repeated still stunned. "As in-?"

"As in 'home'," she repeated. "To court, with you and my boyfriend."

"You remember?" I practically cried, and she nodded and held her arms out to me. I imidately fell into her embrace, more than relieved to have my best friend back.

"I'll call Dimitri," Christian said behind me sounding over the moon himself, "I am sure he'll be equally ecstatic."

* * *

Dpov

"Are you absolutely sure you will be alright here?" Rose's mother asked her for the fifth time.

"Mom," Rose groaned. "I'll be fine! The doctor said, I am practically back to my old self, and I can't stay in the hospital forever anyway. I am home, I am not back to work yet, and I have my very protective boyfriend here with me. Nothing is going to happen." She was right. I hadn't let her out of my sight since I got the call from Christian, delivering the best news in the world.

"But you still don't remember everything. You could relapse-" Janine started again, but Rose cut her off.

"That is a risk, we will have to take. I could always relapse, even after remembering for years, that is what they said, mom. But I remember all the important parts, and I am back, where I belong. It'll be alright, and if it isn't, Dimitri is here to take care of me." It was true. She didn't remember everything. The last few months leading up to the crash were still missing, and I was kind of hoping they would stay gone. Lissa and Christian had agreed to stay quiet, and Rose's parents had settled on using it for blackmail.

Abe mumbled something under his breath, probably another insult towards me. Rose's parents still hated me more than ever. They had fought tooth and nail to get Rose to move in with her father in Turkey to get around-the-clock care, in case she had a relapse, but Rose had been deadest on moving back into our shared apartment, once the doctor cleared her. My family had gone home long ago, and so it was just the two of us again. "Alright," Janine gave in. "But you call us if you need anything. Anything at all! A hug, a car, a plane ticket. Just call us okay?"

"Yes mom, I will," she promised as she hugged both of her parents goodbye. Abe sent me a warning glare over her shoulder for his hug. He didn't need to say anything, he had been texting his threats for days, ever since she got her memory back. As soon as she had pushed them out the door, she turned back to me with a tired but happy smile. "Do I get to be carried to bed for my first day back?" She asked me and held out her arms. She was still on crutches with her knee and had trouble moving around. I laughed and picked her up bridal style.

"I promise, I will carry you to bed every night from here on out," I vowed and relished in the feeling of her small body against mine.

"Careful Comrade, I might take you up on it," she giggled and rested her head on my shoulder. I got her tucked in and went to get a water glass and a few painkillers for her, so she didn't have to get out of bed tonight. "Comrade," she groaned and smiled at me when I got back.

"Yes my love?" I asked as I kneeled next to her, after having put the glass and the pills on her bedside table.

"Come spoon me," she ordered jokingly.

"Your wish is my command," I answered her lightly and climbed in beside her, wrapping her up tightly in my arms hoping to stay like that forever.

**Don't get too comfortable yet. She will remember everything soon! Please leave a review!**


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